Hip Hop Artist Ludacris to Host 2014 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

dick clark productions and Billboard announced today that Grammy Award-winning recording artist and actor Ludacris will host the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. The show will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on SUNDAY, MAY 18 on ABC at 8pm ET.

Ludacris will take to the Billboard stage while in the midst of filming his role in the highly anticipated Fast & Furious 7. The musician-turned-actor has received many of the music industry's top accolades for his work including Grammy Awards for "Best Rap/Song Collaboration" for the song "Yeah!" in 2005, "Best Rap Song" for "Money Maker," and "Best Rap Album" for the album Release Therapy? in 2007. He has also received twelve nominations from the BET Awards, winning two: "Viewer's Choice" for "Yeah!" in 2004 and "Best Collaboration" for "Runaway Love" in 2007. He also earned five No. 1 albums on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and 29 top 10 singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, he's earned 18 top 10 singles - the third most of any hip-hop artist in history after Jay Z (21) and Lil Wayne (19). Ludacris' upcoming album, Ludaversal, is due out this fall.

In addition to his heavily awarded music career, Ludacris is an esteemed actor, having appeared in the acclaimed indie drama "Hustle & Flow," the smash hit "Fast and the Furious" sequels "2 Fast 2 Furious," "Fast Five," and "Fast & Furious 6," and the 2006 Academy Award Best Picture Winner, "Crash," which earned him the prestigious Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice awards. He has also had a recurring role as 'Darius Parker' in the long-running hit television series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

The 2014 Billboard Music Award festivities start with the "Samsung Galaxy Red Carpet LIVE! @ The 2014 Billboard Music Awards," which will live stream on Yahoo at 6pm ET / 3pm PT. The two hour pre-show, hosted by Lance Bass, Jordin Sparks, Ted Stryker and more, can also be viewed at BillboardMusicAwards.com,Billboard.com, Fans can check out the full experience at https://music.yahoo.com/programs/billboard-music-awards/.

Fans can ask questions to their favorite nominees, presenters and performers at the Billboard Music Awards using Instagram's Q&A Station. To submit, fans should create an Instagram video and tag it with #AskBBMAs. Artists will see the fan questions backstage and respond live with their own 15 second video during the BBMAs on May 18. Answers will appear on the @officialbbmas Instagram account.

Fan voting for the 2014 Milestone Award presented by Chevrolet will continue through the first two hours of the awards show, ending at 10pm ET. To vote for finalists Ellie Goulding, OneRepublic or Carrie Underwood, go to HYPERLINK "http://www.billboard.com/milestone" billboard.com/milestone. The special editorial award will be given to an innovative artist who has achieved a notable chart milestone over the past year.

The 2014 Billboard Music Awards is produced by dick clarkproductions. Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan are Executive Producers. Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are producers. For additional information on the "2014 Billboard Music Awards" visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard HUB at www.billboard.com/bbma.

For additional news and exclusive content, follow @OfficialBBMAs #BBMAs on Twitter, like us on Facebook and join the conversation on Instagram and HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/billboard" YouTube.

ABOUT LUDACRIS
Multi-Platinum-selling, Grammy Award(r)-winning artist and actor Ludacris has been a mainstay on the Billboard Music Charts since 2000, when he released the hit single "What's Your Fantasy?" off his debut album Back for the Fantasy. He has since released a string of hits that have included Billboard Hot 100 number ones ("Stand Up," "Money Maker") and Top Tens("Move Bitch," "Splash Waterfalls," "Pimpin' All Over the World," "Runaway Love"), as well as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop TopTens ("Southern Hospitality," "Area Codes," "Rollout [My Business]," "Saturday [Oooh Oooh!]," "Get Back," "Number One Spot"). Ludacris has also been a reliable featured guest on Top Tens for Missy Elliott ("One Minute Man," "Gossip Folks"),Mariah Carey ("Loverboy"), LL Cool J ("Fatty Girl"), Chingy ("Holidae In"), Usher ("Yeah!"), Ciara ("Oh"), Jamie Foxx("Unpredictable"), Fergie ("Glamorous"), and others.

Ludacris is also a dedicated philanthropist, whose passion for giving back to the community inspired him to establish the LudacrisFoundation in 2001, a non-profit organization which seeks to inspire youth through education and memorable experiences and to live their dreams by uplifting families, communities and fostering economic development. For more information, visit HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/LudaKids" https://www.facebook.com/LudaKids.

ABOUT BILLBOARD
Billboard is the world's most influential music brand, built on the most complete and well-respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to HYPERLINK "http://Billboard.com" Billboard.com which is the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music, the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike.

ABOUT "2014 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS"
The "2014 Billboard Music Awards" are set to return to ABC and will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18 at 8:00pm ET/PT. The show will showcase this year's hottest and biggest music stars. Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 11, 2013 through March 9, 2014. The "2014 Billboard Music Awards" is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro and Michael Mahan are Executive Producers. Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Producers.

ABOUT dick clark productions
dick clark productions (dcp) is the world's largest producer and proprietor of televised events. dcp produces perennial hits such as the "American Music Awards," "Golden Globe Awards," "Academy of Country Music Awards," "Hollywood Film Awards," "Billboard Music Awards," and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest." dcp also produces popular weekly television programming, including "So You Think You Can Dance," and owns one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of dcp's award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. In 2014,dcp will debut "The PEOPLE MAGAZINE Awards" on NBC and joint venture Keshet DCP will premiere the weekly television series "Rising Star" on ABC. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

ABOUT CHEVROLET
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.chevrolet.com/" www.chevrolet.com.